​Hungary, Cyprus and Greece first to return to Russian market after sanctions lifted – watchdog

Food products from Hungary, Greece and Cyprus may be the first to return to Russian supermarket shelves once the food embargo ends, said Sergei Dankvert, head of Rosselkhoznadzor, the Russian agricultural watchdog.

Russia is discussing the possibility of sending inspectors to
Hungary, Greece and Cyprus in order to audit suppliers and ensure
immediate exports after the sanctions are lifted, said RSN citing
Dankvert.

After the issue is resolved, the service will allow deliveries
only from suppliers audited by experts from the European Union,
as there was long-term lack of supply, he said.

In August 2014 Russia introduced an embargo on meat, fruit and
vegetables, seafood and dairy products from the EU, Australia,
Canada, Norway and the United States. The move was in response to
the sanctions imposed against Russia over the situation in
Ukraine.

However, Russia won’t end the embargo before Western sanctions
are lifted, said deputy head of Rosselkhoznadzor Aleksey
Alekseenko to RSN.

"Sanctions will last for as long as the sanctions against us
are in force. The most important thing is that we realized how
important the agro-industrial complex is for our economy,”
he said. “It is developing and soon the time will come when
we’ll be able to provide ourselves with food - that's our
goal."

Alekseenko added it will be extremely difficult for the EU to
resume the supply of their products to Russia once the embargo is
lifted.

"We are already in the process of signing long-term contracts
for the supply of food products from the countries that
previously had no chance - Iran, China, India," he said.